Jetstar Japan joins the new breed of Japanese low cost carriers (three in 2012!)

Jetstar Japan CEO Miyuki Suzuki greets her first commercially-important person at the Tokyo Narita-Sapporo Chitose route launch. The logos to the right conveniently show us the owners of Jetstar Japan – Qantas (33.3%), JAL (33.3%), Mitsubishi Corp (16.7%), and TC Lease (16.7%). For a full analysis of this route, read here.

This week saw the launch of Jetstar Japan, the joint venture LCC in which Qantas and Japan Airlines each have a one-third stake. This is the second of three new LCCs that will have launched in Japan by the end of the year, following Peach in March and with AirAsia Japan due to launch at the beginning of August. A summary of the three airlines and their currently-announced route networks is provided in the following table.

All three carriers have chosen to operate A320s in a 180-seat configuration. Analysis of schedule data for 2012 shows how quickly each carrier has grown (or currently plans to grow) after launching. With a few months head start over its rivals, Peach appears to be determined to maintain its status as the biggest of the three new LCCs, as measured by weekly departures.

Source: Innovata for 2012

By the end of 2012, Peach will be operating seven routes from Osaka Kansai airport including three international routes. Jetstar Japan will be operating six domestic routes from a mix of Tokyo Narita and Osaka Kansai, while AirAsia Japan will have just three domestic routes from Tokyo Narita. However, it is possible that any of these carriers may launch additional services before the end of the year.